History Reed Richards, the only son of a wealthy physicist Nathaniel Richards and his wife Evelyn, was a child prodigy with a special aptitude in mathematics, physics, and mechanics. Taking college level courses by the time he was 14, Richards attended several universities, among them are the California Institute of Technology, Empire State, Columbia, and Harvard, earning a doctorate in physics and electrical engineering by the age of 22. After serving in the armed forces for 6 years, Richards went to work on a government rocket program independant of NASA based in Cenctral City, California, Richards' home town. The rocket project was partially funded by major grants from Richards' father. Designing and supervising the construction of a starship, Richards was chagrined when the project supervisors would not allow him to be among the passengers on the maiden voyage, because he was too "valuable." Richards was so convinced of its that not only did he intend to fly aboard an unauthorized test flight, he intended to permit his fiance Susan Storm, and her younger brother John, to fly too. Enlisting the aid of his college friend, Benjamin Grimm, to pilot the ship. Richards and his crew stole onto the the launch facility, entered the ship, and blasted off. Unknown to Richards, a Forbush Decline (a reduction in the extent of the Earth's protective magnasphere caused by a solar flare) caused the Van Allen radiation belts to be filled with unprecedented, ultra high levels of cosmic radiation. Since the ship was designed to shield against ordinary levels of radiation, the cabin volume was subjected to intense cosmic ray bombardment which irradiated the four passengers and wrought havoc on the ship's controls. Pilot Ben Grimm was forced to abort the flight. Once on Earth, the four crew members discovered that the radiation had triggered mutagenic changes in their bodies. Convincing the others that they had to use their newfound powers for the good of humanity, Richards named himself Mr. Fantastic and their team the Fantastic Four. Richards leased and eventually purchased the Baxter Building in midtown Manhattan and set up headquarters there for the Fantastic Four, getting funds from Richards' patents and royalties. Richards married his fiance, Susan Storm, soon after and they conceived a son, Franklin Benjamin Richards, who they named after Susan's father and Benjamin Grimm. Richards' was thought to have been killed with Dr. Doom in one of their encounters, but was discovered months later in the wilderness of another reality. He returned to his family and took his place as the leader of the Fantastic Four once again, just in time for the coming of Onslaught. Onslaught had taken Franklin, to exploit the child for his immense reality-warping powers. Richards was the last to sacrifice himself in the battle against Onslaught, hand in hand with his wife, Susan. Richards and the rest of the Fantastic Four returned in a matter of months from a pocket universe created by his son, Franklin, to save the heroes from Onslaught. Once reunited with his son, he remedied the team's financial troubles that had piled up from his absence. Richards' organized a merging of the Fantastic Four and the Avengers and served as the team leader for the duration of this setup. However in a conflict with Kang where Franklin was kidnapped and put in dserious danger, Richards and his wife, Susan, both agreed to dissolve the team merging and step back from being superheroes to raise their son. However, Richards apparently reformed the Fantastic Four months later, shortly before Marvel Girl appeared at their doorstep. He had her enrolled in the academy which trained Generation X, to give her the training she would need to be a serious part of the Fantastic Four as she wished to be.